Wisconsin's poverty rate is holding steady and fewer people in the state are considered "poor" compared to the nation as a whole. Still, income disparity between the very poorest residents and the very richest is growing. The U. S. Census Bureau reports 726,000 people in Wisconsin live at or beneath...

Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, spoke in Milwaukee Thursday trying to spoil the claim that her husband does not care about nearly half the U.S. population. Video surfaced this week of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney telling wealthy donors this summer that he does not worry about the 47 percent of...

Two independent polls show President Barack Obama with a widening lead over Mitt Romney in Wisconsin. The results come as the President and Romney's wife, Ann, are about to campaign at separate events in Wisconsin. A poll done by a Connecticut university shows President Obama with a six-point lead over...

State Superintendent Tony Evers is calling on the legislature to "reinvest" in education in the next budget. Evers delivered his annual state of education in Wisconsin speech at the state Capitol Thursday. He says cuts to education are taking a toll. "We can't keep expecting districts to balance their budgets...

A legislative council committee is considering changes to the state's sex predator law. The committee heard testimony from prosecutors and defense attorneys at a hearing in Madison Wednesday. The committee is trying to tweak the law, while still protecting both public safety and the rights of an offender to be...

Governor Scott Walker is declining to weigh in on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comments criticizing 47 percent of the American public. In a secretly recorded speech to GOP donors first posted online by the magazine Mother Jones, Romney characterized 47 percent of Americans as people who see themselves as...

La Crosse's mayor has vetoed the city's new sign ordinance, which places design and placement restrictions on commercial signs and billboards. Mayor Matt Harter sent a letter to city council members, saying the ordinance would improve the aesthetics of La Crosse. However, he says that does not justify infringing upon...

Tribes from the ceded territory of northern Wisconsin will get their say Thursday before a senate committee looking at rewriting the state's mining law. Committee members intend to diffuse past tensions with the tribes. The proposed iron ore mine in the Penokee Range of Iron and Ashland Counties had members...

Two polls released Wednesday appear to show good news for Democratic Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin, in her contest against Republican Tommy Thompson. Baldwin has been trailing Thompson in most independent polls, but a new survey from Quinnipiac University shows a tie between Baldwin and Thompson, while a new Marquette University...

A commission appointed by the state Supreme Court is holding hearings across the state on the need to fund more legal services for people who cannot afford to defend themselves in civil court cases. The goal of the Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission is to document the need for state...

As expected, the next salvo in the fight over Friday's ruling, which reinstates collective bargaining rights for schools and local governments in Wisconsin, came from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. Van Hollen filed a request that the ruling be put on hold while an appeal is pending. WPR's Terry Bell...

A mining expert told a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday that there is a way for Wisconsin to be more receptive to mining companies without getting rid of its mining regulations. Tom Evans of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey literally wrote the book on mining regulation in Wisconsin,...

Newly released cargo tonnage reports are mixed for August, with Great Lakes cargo down but St. Lawrence Seaway numbers up from a year ago. Cargo is off almost 9 percent from a year ago on the Great Lakes. Grain has been down this entire shipping season because of drought and...

According to a new national report, the number of people considered obese will double by 2030. A report by Trust for America's Health shows every state steadily gaining weight, with projected increases by 2030that could put more than half Wisconsin's population in the obese category. Jeff Levi is executive director...

A federal expert told a special mining committee in Madison Tuesday that speeding up the permitting process for new iron mines in Wisconsin might not be in a mining company's best interest. One of the highlights of the failed Republican effort to rewrite Wisconsin's mining laws last session was a...

A group co-founded by former Bush aide Karl Rove has started running a statewide television commercial attacking Democratic Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin. The ad begins with Representative Baldwin speaking at a Wisconsin rally saying, "You're damn right we're making a difference" The ad is part of a nearly $1 million...

The Milwaukee Public Schools are collaborating with Junior Achievement Wisconsin to teach eighth graders about personal finance. Starting in October, students will learn the basics of creating a budget in the classroom. Then they will take part in a series of role playing activities where they will set up a...

Proposals to have Racine and Oak Creek sell Lake Michigan water to Waukesha go before the Waukesha Common Council Tuesday night for a closed-door discussion.
The process would make Waukesha the first city, outside the Great Lakes Basin, to receive lake water under a multi-state compact signed four...

Many students in the Mukwonago School District are boycotting school lunches. At issue are the new federal lunch rules, which increase the servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and cap the number of calories. Pam Harris is the Food Service Supervisor for the Mukwonago District. She says that Monday...

Home sales were up considerably this August compared to the same time last year. The Wisconsin Realtors Association cites a number of factors that are driving the market. First of all June, July and August are typically the busiest time of year for Wisconsin real estate transactions. This year was...